Josh Dunkley: There ‘needs to be lenience’ on phones in rooms

Western Bulldogs midfielder Josh Dunkley believes there needs to be “lenience” from the AFL when it comes to players accessing phones, especially if they’re injured, following the revelation Collingwood pair Jordan De Goey and Jeremy Howe illegally used their phones mid-match on Friday.

Howe and De Goey were both ruled out of the game with injuries, and after heading into the rooms were seen on camera taking their phones from a case in the Collingwood rooms. On Tuesday, the AFL fined Collingwood $20,000 for breaching AFL Rule 30 “regarding the use and possession of Communications devices in the Match Day Restricted Areas (MDRA).”

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The AFL has rules in place banning players from accessing mobile devices from before a match starts until after it ends, with integrity concerns around gambling one of the reasons for the harsh stance.

Speaking on the ESPN Footy Podcast on Tuesday, Dunkley said it was a “strange” situation, but said he sympathised with Howe, who is said to have contacted his wife who had concerns for his wellbeing. Howe suffered a hamstring injury in the Pies’ loss to West Coast.

“If you get injured, and it’s a serious injury, and you need to tell a loved one you need to get picked up … for example Howe was talking to one of his family members, that was pretty stiff,” Dunkley said. “I feel like you’ve got to give a little lenience there.

“I don’t mind [De Goey and Howe accessing their phones] as a player, but things happened and there are rules in place, so whatever [consequences come of it, will come of it]. It’s a little bit, I don’t know … it’s a strange one.”

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The 24-year-old said the AFL was “very strict” on how phones are used in the changerooms before games, but players “should be allowed to” if they’re injured.

“There are integrity guys who walk around the rooms. Pre-COVID, they’d be in there all the time, watching to see if anyone was on their phone,” Dunkley said. “I’m not sure what other clubs do, but our club, as soon as you walk into the changerooms there’s a big black case at the front you put your phone in, you turn it off … and you don’t see it until after the game.

“What’s it for, the gambling side of things? When the game’s already on, what’s going to be change? If you’re injured, you’re down in the dumps and feeling sad and sorry for yourself, I feel like it’d be fine.”

He said clubs perhaps needed to reassess how they work in the event of an injury, suggesting need to get on the front foot about contacting family members or partners if a player is injured. Clubs have 10 approved members of staff who are allowed to access phones, but Dunkley said the focus is always on the action on the ground and not what’s happening off it.

“For us, our player welfare manager sits on the bench, so he’s involved in gameday on the field, so if you’re injured, the doctors will take you to the rooms and if you’re injured and out for the game, that’s it – the doctors go back on the field and everyone just continues their gameday routine. The team on the field takes priority over you being injured,” Dunkley said on the podcast. “I don’t know if there’d be any point of contact [for loved ones] from a club point of view. For Howe, it must be tough because he was reaching out to his wife to let her know he was okay, yeah, it’s a tough one.”

It’s been revealed the Pies’ mid-match phone breach was not the first time it had happened in 2021, with SEN reporting they were told to shape up a number of weeks ago by integrity officers.